6
Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run
Chapter 266 Tell Him
"
Tara paced the floor waiting for Jax. She didn't want to have this conversation with him, but it was important to warn him about Kohn. She owed him that.
Jax roared up on his motorcycle. When Tara let him into the house, she immediately noticed that something was different. There was a little less Jax Teller swagger. He was more subdued like something was weighing heavily on his mind. Tara hated to add to his load, but it had to be done.
"You want something to drink?"
He shook his head.
"No."
"Jax, what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Can you at least sit down for a minute?"
He sat down on the worn brown couch. Tara sat next to him.
"OK, why am I here?"
"A few months before I left Chicago, I was dating this ATF agent named Josh Kohn. He seemed normal, but he wasn't. In the course of dating him, I mentioned that I'd dated a biker. He slowly got me to tell him about you. I didn't tell him anything about SAMCRO or anything that they did. I swear, Jax, I never said a word."
"There wasn't anything for you to tell him."
Tara nodded her head quickly.
"Exactly, but he got crazy. As my relationship with him went down hill he got it in his head that it was your fault. It doesn't make sense, but the insane are insane so they don't make sense. He got violent and I ended things with him.
"He stalked me. The police and the ATF weren't helpful. They protect their own. I felt my only choice was to leave and there was a job opening here. It seemed like it was my destiny. When I left Chicago, I thought that was the last I'd see of him."
"You think this is the agent investigating SAMCRO?"
She nodded her head staring at her chewed up fingernails. She was a doctor, she knew how unsanitary it was, but in times of high stress she just couldn't control herself.
"He told me that if I get back with him, he'll make everything against SAMCRO go away. Tonight when I left work, he told me that indictments could come down soon against SAMCRO."
"Unless you went away with him," Jax said.
"Yeah."
Jax's jaw clenched and his face was flushed with anger.
"It's bullshit. He's playing you. If the ATF had a case against SAMCRO and we both know that's impossible because SAMCRO is just a club of Harley enthusiasts, they wouldn't drop a case because an ATF agent gets back together with his girlfriend."
"You really believe that?"
"Yeah and it doesn't make sense that the ATF agent investigating SAMCRO is pulled from the Chicago office for this investigation. There are ATF agents all over the country. We'll dig into this guy and find out what's really going on, but I think it's just a desperate move to hold on to you."
"That's not all. He believes that I came back to Charming to be with you. I told him that wasn't true and you had a girlfriend named Scarlett. I wanted him to believe that there was no chance we could be together. That was another of his obsessions. He thought he needed to rescue me from you. He's got this crazy hatred of you. He's mentioned hurting Scarlett to get to you. He could hurt her, or you or me."
"You really think he's capable of hurting her to get to me?"
Tara nodded.
"I'm afraid so. He's got this pathological hatred of you."
"That son of a bitch better never lay a hand on either of you."
There was still something off with Jax. He was always brimming with confidence and swagger. Whatever was wrong with Jax had to do with Scarlett. A few weeks ago, she would have been delighted. She would have taken that as a sign that she and Jax were going to get together and live happily ever after. Now, she wanted to help fix things.
She was proud of herself for finally moving on from Jax. It had taken her long enough, but she was free from Jax Teller heartbreak. Some of that might be Eric's influence, but part of it was her making the decision to move ahead with her life.
"What happened with you and Scarlett?"
"Really?" Jax said, cocking an eyebrow at Tara.
"I honestly want to help. She and I are really friends. You know I'll never say anything."
Jax shook his head before jumping to his feet.
"She told me she never wants to see me again. It's all her fault."
"When a girl says she never wants to see you again, what she really means is that she's mad at you and needs some time to cool down. Now, what did she do?"
Jax paced back and forth anger seemed to consume him.
"We had this arrangement where we don't see other people."
"OK. Keep going," Tara said encouragingly.
"I was supposed to work all day, but there was a change in plans. I decided I'd drop by and see Scarlett. I saw a guy go into her motel room. I circled the block a couple of time but his car was still there. I knocked on her door. This guy let's me in."
"This doesn't sound like Scarlett, Jax. For all the jokes, she isn't a slut. I don't think she would cheat on you. It's not in her DNA."
"I go into her room and she's lying half undressed on her bed. He sits down on the bed near her. She doesn't tell me who he is or anything. Her shorts are pulled low on her back and her top is pushed up. I lost it. I grabbed the guy, slammed him against the wall and punched him. She starts yelling at me that he's giving her an acupuncture treatment. It was dark in her room. I didn't see the needles."
"Where does the part about it being all her fault come in?"
"She should have told me who he was when I walked into her room."
"I'm guessing if you had given her a few more seconds, she would have told you. This isn't even a little her fault. It's all your fault."
"See? I knew you would take her side. She should have told me immediately who he was."
"You should have trusted her. Do you want to be right or do you want to make things right with her?"
"I want to make things right with her."
"Give her a couple of hours and then go talk to her. Accept the blame."
"Maybe a couple of days."
"Why a couple of days? So you can get drunk at the clubhouse and bang crow-eaters? That's the shit you used to pull on me. You would break up with me, get drunk and screw around. You never cheated because you always broke up with me before you cheated. When I was eighteen, I put up with that shit. Now I'd be done with you the first time you pulled that."
"I didn't break up with you because I wanted to cheat."
"Doesn't matter. You go to the clubhouse, get drunk and have an orgy with crow-eaters. How is that going to fix things between you and Scarlett?"
"She said she doesn't want to see me again."
Tara got to her feet and slapped Jax on the arm.
"If you are done with her, go screw your brains out, but if you want her back, act like an adult for a change. Give her a couple of hours, go to her and apologize. If you want to destroy your relationship, bang your brains out and then go to her in a couple of days. She won't forgive you. You need to build trust with her."
"So, what you're going to tell her if I go hook up with some crow-eaters?"
"I don't know. Just be a better person. Don't use this as an excuse to cheat. You do that and whenever you two have problems, she'll think that you'll be out cheating on her. It will eat away at your relationship until it's gone. Treat her better than you did me. Time to grow up and not run to sex, drugs and alcohol when relationships get hard."
Jax shook his head with disgust.
"I should have known that you would take her side."
"I'm trying to help you save your relationship."
"Thanks a lot, Tara," Jax said as he pulled on his leather gloves. "I'll let you know what I find out about Kohn. I appreciate you letting me know about him."
Tara followed him out on the porch.
"Jax at least give it 24 hours before you start the debauchery."
"Never thought you would take her side over mine. Is that Kohn in the white car?"
"Yes."
Jax walked past his bike and over to the car Kohn was sitting in and pulled him out through the rolled down window.